Why we made this change

Visitors are allowed 3 free articles per month (without a subscription), and private browsing prevents us from counting how many stories you've read. We hope you understand, and consider subscribing for unlimited online access.

How acting as Carrie Fisher’s puppet made a career for Rogue One’s Princess Leia

Ingvild Deila had one of the most talked-about roles in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, but she was only on screen for about 15 seconds. No one even saw her face. Yet she can now claim on her IMDB page that she was once Princess Leia.

Jim Kirby, UK (Courtesy of Ingvild Deila)

In reality, she was playing Carrie Fisher playing Princess Leia. She was the body—the human puppet—behind the digital reconstruction of the 19-year-old Fisher at the end of the movie.

This article also appears in Clocking In, our newsletter which covers the impact of emerging technology on the future of work. Sign up here—it’s free!

A startup says it has tackled a long-standing problem that has kept smart contracts from responding to events in the outside world.

Before Rogue One, Deila’s biggest role was a minor part in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Definitely not a small film, but you probably don’t remember her character, World Hub Tech. To land the role of Leia, she had to perform two scenes from the original Star Wars. In addition to her acting, her similarity in height, body type, and profile to Fisher made her the top pick. From then on, the job was all about embodying someone else. “It wasn’t about making the character my own,” says Deila. “It was about copying her in every detail.”

She spent months studying Fisher’s facial expressions, prepping for just seconds on screen. Deila pored over interview clips and movie close-ups. She even read Fisher’s autobiography.

When it came to the role itself, she spent about three days in a studio getting scanned by Industrial Light and Magic, and only one on set. To create the scan, the visual effects gurus showed her a picture of Fisher that she had to mimic. Hundreds of lights were then flashed around her to capture detailed images of her face in a variety of lighting conditions. This scan served as the base on which Fisher’s 19-year-old face was overlaid for the final scene. “It was so strange. I could tell it’s me, but it’s also definitely not me,” she says. “It’s hard to describe that feeling. You now can see a bit of what it feels like with apps like Snapchat where you can put layers and swap faces.”

Fisher was shown the final product in advance of the premiere and approved of the outcome. Sadly, she passed away just weeks after the movie was released.

For some, ghost-acting is fraught with moral questions. Deila says she is unsure whether she could have gone through with the role if Fisher had died before filming. Bringing someone back on screen strikes her as more ethically dubious with actors who have just died than with someone who passed years earlier. “I would have only done it if I knew the family was okay with it,” she says.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story | Lucasfilm (Courtesy of Ingvild Deila)

Almost two years later, even though it was the smallest role of her career in terms of screen time, it's still what she is best known for. Those 15 seconds have opened doors for her, helping her land larger roles. She’s appearing—with her own face—in an upcoming movie called Escape from Brazil. Ghost-acting for Fisher has also thrown her into the sci-fi and comic convention scene, with invites to attend conferences in Europe and South America.

Sign up for Clocking In

A daily look at the workplace of the future

Thank you — please check your email to complete your sign up.

Incorrect email format

By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters and
notifications from MIT Technology Review. You can change your preferences at any time. View our
Privacy Policy for more detail.

She says she would be happy to reprise the role with the blessing of Fisher’s family—if a story required it. “It’s a bit like back in the day when there was king or a queen. It was a role that has to be filled,” says Deila. “You didn’t have personal ownership of a role. I knew from day one they were free to change anything they wanted. I was just the vessel.”

Share

Tagged

I am the associate editor of the future of work at MIT Technology Review. I am particularly interested in automation and advanced manufacturing, spurring from my background in mechanical engineering. I produce our future of work e-mail… More newsletter, Clocking In, which takes a daily look at how technology is impacting the workplace. Before joining the publication I worked as a freelance science writer, founded the 3-D printing company Sci Chic, and interned at the Economist. Get in touch at erin.winick@technologyreview.com.

You've read
of three
free articles this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited online access.
You've read
of three
free articles this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited online access.
This is your last free article this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited online access.
You've read all your free articles this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited online access.
You've read
of three
free articles this month.
Log in for more, or subscribe now for unlimited online access.
Log in for two more free articles, or subscribe now
for unlimited online access.